[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 23, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 23CFR650.111]

[Page 227-228]
 
                           TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
 
 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 650--BRIDGES, STRUCTURES, AND HYDRAULICS--Table of Contents
 
   Subpart A--Location and Hydraulic Design of Encroachments on Flood 
                                 Plains
 
Sec. 650.111  Location hydraulic studies.

    (a) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) maps or information 
developed by the highway agency, if NFIP maps are not available, shall 
be used to determine whether a highway location alternative will include 
an encroachment.
    (b) Location studies shall include evaluation and discussion of the 
practicability of alternatives to any longitudinal encroachments.
    (c) Location studies shall include discussion of the following 
items, commensurate with the significance of the risk or environmental 
impact, for all alternatives containing encroachments and for those 
actions which would support base flood-plain development:
    (1) The risks associated with implementation of the action,
    (2) The impacts on natural and beneficial flood-plain values,

[[Page 228]]

    (3) The support of probable incompatible flood-plain development,
    (4) The measures to minimize flood-plain impacts associated with the 
action, and
    (5) The measures to restore and preserve the natural and beneficial 
flood-plain values impacted by the action.
    (d) Location studies shall include evaluation and discussion of the 
practicability of alternatives to any significant encroachments or any 
support of incompatible flood-plain development.
    (e) The studies required by Sec. 650.111 (c) and (d) shall be 
summarized in environmental review documents prepared pursuant to 23 CFR 
part 771.
    (f) Local, State, and Federal water resources and flood-plain 
management agencies should be consulted to determine if the proposed 
highway action is consistent with existing watershed and flood-plain 
management programs and to obtain current information on development and 
proposed actions in the affected watersheds.